Dog grabs and eats dog fur

My friend has a German Shepherd and I help brush all the shedding undercoat at this time of year. Problem is my 9 year old Min Pin will grab the clumps of hair that come off the comb and eat mouthfuls of the stuff. I have searched around and it does appear that this isn't as rare as I thought, but does anyone know WHY a dog (or any other living being) would find a mouthful of hair to be palatable? And will this behaviour cause any damage to the dog? He seems to be ok but he's so obsessed that I think from now on I'll tie him up out of reach while I help brush the Shepherd since I just don't feel that this can be a good thing..:shrug:

I found this web site that explains why dogs eat weird things. It's called Pica
and I never heard of this until right now


http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/pica_eating_strange_objects.html


The web site said eating odds things could cause a blockage in a pet , so you should try to keep your dog from eating anymore fur. My dog likes to eat tissues and I have to be careful
abut this.

Thanks for the advice. I am tying him to a tree while we brush the furry dogs. He doesn't like it, but it's for his own good!!

I had a manchester terrier that used to pull the hair off my golden's tail and eat it!!!! Strange eh?